Today, we went back to De Palm Island, so Mike could see the blue parrotfish. For me though, the real highlight was seeing the Midnight Parrotfish; that has been the highlight of the fish experiences so far. It’s a magnificent looking creature. He’s the only one we’ve seen of his species. Poor guy has to be lonely!

There were also some trunkfish, of a size we had never seen before. After checking in our book, we found that they were the max size for this fish. They were SOOOOoooo cool. I’m totally fascinated by them. I must have about 300 pictures of them alone! hah

We also saw the absolute biggest French Angelfish we’ve seen down here. I didn’t even realize they grew that big! Most we’ve seen were half that size. When we were in the Caymans, we bought a photo of the french angel, but never saw one there. We saw some juveniles, but no adults. Down here in Aruba, we see them every time we’re in the ocean.

Pam finally got to see her Red Lipped Blennie – they’re a really skittish fish, and tough to get a picture of… as soon as you point the camera at them, they’re gone. I’ve got some great pictures of rocks trying to photograph them! hah

Pam and Pete were the brave ones of the crowd and did the Sea Trek helmet walking, where they had a helmet on their heads that had oxygen pumped into it as they descended 25 feet into the ocean. You have to stop every few feet to pop your ears because of the pressure changes on the way down but you don’t have to do it on the way up. The fish were the usual fish you get to see around these waters but Pam did get to touch a sea feather and see it pop back in it’s little hole. It was a pretty fun experience.

We had dinner at the Petit Cafe, overlooking Oranjestaad’s harbor. It was a nice setting. It’s so cool to eat outside at 8 pm, in the nice warm 80 degree weather. I tried a new drink called the Nutty Monkey – very good! An adult slurpy with banana and coconut booze.

Unfortunately the food was poor,  the worst we’ve had. I had the “Treasures of the Sea” – lobster, shrimp, and mahi-mahi. I ask you, when was the last time you NEEDED a steak knife to cut a lobster tail? 4 small shrimp, badly overcooked, a small lobster tail – and i mean small – two bites – and a little piece of mahi-mahi, with a scoop of rice and KFC-style coleslaw – 36.50 US dollars – a total ripoff.

Ah well – at least the beer was cold.